Graduates of the Class of 2020, family members, and friends:
2020届全体毕业生及其家人和朋友们:
It is a privilege to be able to speak with you, even in this unusual way.
非常荣幸能在此给大家讲话,尽管方式不同于以往。
I know you would rather be on campus -- and I wish you could be here
我知道你们更愿意去学校--我也希望你们能在这里
but I am glad we can all do our part to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and stay healthy.
但我很高兴我们都能尽自己所能降低COVID-19的传播,同时保护好自己的健康。
Over the past several months, the novel coronavirus has spread around the globe, infecting millions and claiming far too many lives.
过去几个月,新冠肺炎在全球范围内蔓延,已导致数百万人感染,夺走了很多人的生命。
It has come to nearly every community; it has come here, to Yale's doorstep.
它几乎到遍了每一个社区,也来到了耶鲁的门前。
This crisis has been a wake-up call for all of us.
这场危机为我们所有人敲响了警钟。
It has stretched health care systems to the breaking point.
它使医疗保健系统达到了崩溃的边缘。
It has threatened economies, both household and global.
它威胁着经济,小到家庭,大至全球。
And, like many tragedies, it has exposed the vast gulf between the most fortunate and the most vulnerable.
而且,就像许多悲剧一样,它暴露了最幸运和最弱势的群体之间的巨大鸿沟。
Long after the pandemic itself has subsided, we will need to commit ourselves to finding new and creative solutions to these long-term problems.
在疫情结束后,我们需要致力于为这些长期问题找到创新的解决方案。
It may be too early to say what we have learned from all of this.
现在来说我们从这次疫情中学到什么,可能还为时尚早。
But at the least, we see more sharply than before our interdependence as a human community.
但至少,我们比以前更清晰地看到我们作为人类社会的相互依存关系。
Our deep levels of connection and need for one another are a weakness that infectious diseases exploit.
我们之间深层次的连结和对彼此的需要成为了被传染病利用的弱点。
But our interdependence is also a source of strength and vitality in uncertain times -- indeed, all the time.
但在充满不确定的时代之下,我们之间的相互依赖也是力量和活力的源泉--事实上,一直如此。
Many of us have found inspiration in the sacrifices of frontline hospital and health care workers; in the commitment of essential staff;
从一线医院和医护人员付出的牺牲、坚守岗位的工作人员的尽职承诺、
and in the contributions of public health experts and legions of volunteers.
在公共卫生专家和志愿者的无私奉献中,我们备受鼓舞。
All around us, we have seen ordinary people transformed into heroes.
在我们的身边,我们看到一个个普通人变成了英雄。
What does it mean to be called to heroism, to step out of your normal life and do something extraordinary?
被感召走向英雄主义,走出你的日常生活,去做一些不平凡的事情,这意味着什么?
How do we know if we will respond to such a call?
我们如何知道自己是否会响应这样的号召?
Perhaps the most famous story of this kind is the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
这方面的故事,最广为人知的莫过于“好撒玛利亚人”的寓言。
You are probably familiar with it:
你们可能听过这个故事:
A man is traveling along a road when he is attacked by robbers, who leave him for dead.
有个人在路上遭遇了强盗,被打的半死扔在路边。
Three men pass by: the first two, who are men of high standing, ignore the injured man.
有三个人从旁边走过:前两个是身居高位的人,他们对受伤的人不理不睬。
The third man -- a Samaritan, a social outcast -- stops to help.
第三个人是撒玛利亚人,一个被社会遗弃的人,他停了下来对这个人施以援手。
He tends to the dying man's wounds, puts him on his own donkey, and takes him to an inn, where he pays for his stay.
帮他处理完伤口,扶上自己的驴子,驮到一家旅馆,并支付了费用。
He even tells the innkeeper he will come back and pay for anything else the man needs.
他甚至向店主承诺他将回来把这个人所需的额外费用付清。
The Samaritan is a true neighbor to the dying man, and he is the unexpected hero of the parable.
这个撒玛利亚人可谓是这个伤者真正的邻舍,也是这个寓言里预料之外的英雄。
One of the classic studies from my field of social psychology takes the Good Samaritan as its jumping off point.
在我所从事的社会心理学领域,有一个经典的研究,就是借这位撒玛利亚人的故事为出发点。
In the 1970s, two psychologists conducted an experiment to understand why people help -- or don't.
20世纪70年代,两位心理学家做了一项实验,研究人们为什么会提供帮助,或者为什么袖手旁观。
They chose a group of seminary students who were studying to be ministers.
他们选择了一群打算将来做牧师的神学院学生。
The students were told they needed to go to a nearby building to prepare sermons on -- what else? -- the parable of the Good Samaritan.
让他们前往附近的一所房子去准备一场布道,主题正是关于撒玛利亚人的寓言。
Then they were divided into three groups.
他们把学生分为三组。
The first group was told they had plenty of time before they needed to be at the other building.
第一组被告知,他们有足够的时间,不需要赶着过去。
The second group was told they needed to hurry, or they would be late.
第二组被告知,他们需要赶快,否则就会迟到。
The third group was told they were already late and really needed to hurry.
第三组被告知他们已经晚了,需要赶紧过去。
So, we have all these different students on their way to work on their sermons, presumably with the Good Samaritan on their minds.
这样我们就让这些不同的学生出发去准备自己的布道,此时他们脑子里应该在想着那位“好撒玛利亚人”。
But as they are walking between buildings, each encounters someone needing help -- actors, of course, but pretending to be very ill or hurt.
但在他们去的路上,每个学生都会碰见一个需要帮助的人--当然,都是演员,假装非常不舒服或者受了伤。
In some cases, the actor was lying on the sidewalk, and the seminary students had to physically step around him in order to get by.
有的情况下,这个演员躺在人行道上,这群神学院的学生必须迈过他才能通过。
The researchers wanted to know, who would stop to help?
研究人员想知道,谁会停下来施以援手?
Well, not many. Although two thirds of the people who thought they were early stopped to help,
结果是,没有多少人。认为时间还早的一组中尽管有2/3的人停下来提供帮助,
fewer than half of those who were told they were just on time did so.
认为时间差不多的一组里只有不到一半的人这样做。
Worst of all, only 10 percent of the seminary students who thought they were late took the time to check on the hurt person.
最差的是第三组,只有10%的神学院学生停下脚步询问那位受伤的人。
That means 90 percent of those students thought it was more important to rush to work on their sermons -- about the Good Samaritan
也就是说,他们中90%的学生认为,赶紧去准备(关于那位好撒玛利亚人)的布道,
than to take care of someone who was sick or hurt and alone.
比关心一位生病或受伤的陌生人更重要。
Maybe this was the real lesson of the parable.
或许那个寓言的真正教育意义就在于此。
As the researchers pointed out, perhaps the first two men were not bad people; they just had busier schedules!
正如研究人员所指出的,前面那两个人也许并不是坏人,只不过有更忙的事情要做吧!